IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v11y2024i1d10.1057_s41599-024-02820-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pay structure and firm technological innovation: comparative research based on three pay gaps

Author

Listed:
  • Song Wang

    (Hangzhou Dianzi University)

  • Zhiyuan Lin

    (Hangzhou Dianzi University)

Abstract

While previous research has extensively explored the correlation between pay gaps and firm innovation, the comprehensive investigation of various pay gaps within a unified framework remains an understudied domain. We advance the understanding of the intricate relationship between pay gaps and firm innovation by examining the tournament effect and social comparison effect. Through empirical analysis spanning the period from 2009 to 2019 of Chinese listed companies, our findings reveal a potential inverted U-shaped curve in the impact of all pay gaps on firm innovation. Specifically, the effects of internal pay gap and management pay gap exhibit the left half of an inverted U-shaped curve, while the external pay gap demonstrates a complete inverted U shape. Additionally, utilizing fsQCA, we unveil that small firms can stimulate innovation through management pay incentives, internal tournaments, or employee tournaments. Conversely, large firms can pursue diverse paths, including management equity incentives, strategic emphasis on low pay for firm growth, or a harmonious combination of management pay and equity incentives. The intricate interplay between pay gaps and firm innovation is contingent upon industry and firm characteristics. Consequently, our study underscores the importance of meticulously designing pay structures that align with strategic goals and unique attributes.

Suggested Citation

  • Song Wang & Zhiyuan Lin, 2024. "Pay structure and firm technological innovation: comparative research based on three pay gaps," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-02820-0
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-024-02820-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-024-02820-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-024-02820-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2022. "Tasks, Automation, and the Rise in U.S. Wage Inequality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(5), pages 1973-2016, September.
    2. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Melissa S. Kearney, 2008. "Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality: Revising the Revisionists," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 300-323, May.
    3. Manuel Trajtenberg, 1990. "A Penny for Your Quotes: Patent Citations and the Value of Innovations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(1), pages 172-187, Spring.
    4. Chen Hu & Yanan Li & Penghao Ye, 2023. "The Halo Effect of Government: Does State-Owned Capital Promote the Green Innovation of Chinese Private Enterprises?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-21, May.
    5. Shenkman, Evgenia & Coates, Dennis & Chadov, Aleksei & Parshakov, Petr, 2022. "Team vs. individual tournament: An organizer's dilemma," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 476-492.
    6. Xia, Xiaoxue & Xiao, Yao, 2023. "Firm-level perception of competition and innovation: Textual evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    7. Anders Akerman & Elhanan Helpman & Oleg Itskhoki & Marc-Andreas Muendler & Stephen Redding, 2013. "Sources of Wage Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 214-219, May.
    8. Xu, Mingli & Kong, Gaowen & Kong, Dongmin, 2017. "Does wage justice hamper creativity? Pay gap and firm innovation in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 186-202.
    9. Flannery, Mark J. & Rangan, Kasturi P., 2006. "Partial adjustment toward target capital structures," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 469-506, March.
    10. Holger M. Mueller & Paige P. Ouimet & Elena Simintzi, 2017. "Wage Inequality and Firm Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 379-383, May.
    11. Shahbaz Sheikh, 2012. "Do CEO compensation incentives affect firm innovation?," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(1), pages 4-39, February.
    12. Rajiv D. Banker & Danlu Bu & Mihir N. Mehta, 2016. "Pay Gap and Performance in China," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 52(3), pages 501-531, September.
    13. Jeffrey L Coles & Zhichuan (Frank) Li & Albert Y Wang, 2018. "Industry Tournament Incentives," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(4), pages 1418-1459.
    14. Daron Acemoglu & Ufuk Akcigit & Murat Alp Celik, 2022. "Radical and Incremental Innovation: The Roles of Firms, Managers, and Innovators," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 199-249, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Domini, Giacomo & Grazzi, Marco & Moschella, Daniele & Treibich, Tania, 2022. "For whom the bell tolls: The firm-level effects of automation on wage and gender inequality," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).
    2. Miao, Senlin & Wen, Fenghua & Zhang, Yun, 2022. "Industry tournament incentives and the speed of leverage adjustments: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Daniel Schaefer & Carl Singleton, 2020. "Recent Changes in British Wage Inequality: Evidence from Large Firms and Occupations," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 67(1), pages 100-125, February.
    4. Lu He & Yulei Rao & Lin Xu, 2023. "Appointment-Based CEO Connectedness and Employee Compensation: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-15, August.
    5. Kemeny, Tom & Petralia, Sergio & Storper, Michael, 2022. "Disruptive innovation and spatial inequality," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115953, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Daniel Baumgarten & Gabriel Felbermayr & Sybille Lehwald, 2020. "Dissecting Between‐Plant and Within‐Plant Wage Dispersion: Evidence from Germany," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 85-122, January.
    7. Aziz, Imran & Cortes, Guido Matias, 2021. "Between-group inequality may decline despite a rising skill premium," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Kong, Gaowen & Zhang, Hui & Wang, Di & Yang, Zhiqing & Liu, Hua, 2021. "Political promotion and pay gap: Evidence from SOEs in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 450-460.
    9. Magda, Iga & Gromadzki, Jan & Moriconi, Simone, 2021. "Firms and wage inequality in Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 499-552.
    10. Ye, Miaomiao & Li, Mengzhe & Zeng, Qiannan, 2022. "Former CEO director and executive-employee pay gap," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Claudine Gartenberg & Julie Wulf, 2020. "Competition and Pay Inequality Within and Between Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(12), pages 5925-5943, December.
    12. Christian Gschwendt, 2022. "Routine job dynamics in the Swiss labor market," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 158(1), pages 1-21, December.
    13. Qiankun Meng & Yupei Liu & Wei’an Li & Mingshan Yu, 2023. "Bonding or Indulgence? The Role of Overborrowing on Firms’ Innovation: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, January.
    14. Lang, Youze & Zhu, Weichao, 2020. "Holdup and wage dispersion," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 135-142.
    15. Karacaovali, Baybars & Tabakis, Chrysostomos, 2017. "Wage inequality dynamics and trade exposure in South Korea," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 48-65.
    16. Zhang, Mao & Wang, Yiming & Zhao, Qifeng, 2020. "Does participating in the standards-setting process promote innovation? Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    17. Jarle Aarstad & Olav A. Kvitastein, 2021. "Do Operating Profits Induce a Wage Premium Equally Shared among Employees Earning High or Low Incomes?," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-7, May.
    18. Manuel A. Hidalgo-Pérez & Benedetto Molinari, 2022. "The effect of early automation on the wage distribution with endogenous occupational choices," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(3), pages 1055-1082, October.
    19. Liping Fu & Shan Zhang & Fan Wu, 2022. "The Impact of Compensation Gap on Corporate Innovation: Evidence from China’s Pharmaceutical Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-14, February.
    20. Su, Jing & Jiang, Jiaoliang & Zhang, Bingbing & Cao, Lijuan, 2023. "Industry salary gap incentive and enterprise innovation," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-02820-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.